Hi, I thought I heard that you worked on Corneille's 1st record in english and then I checked the discography and saw that it was in fact you. We just started hearing the first single and a few other snippets in the media here in Quebec (Canada). I am not suprised he chose you to work with him, he s a big fan of Dangelo and the live sound of the roots etc.

Could you talk a little bit about the working process and your involvement- producing and or engineering?/ what was your goal as far as "soundwise" and to present him as an artist to a new audience/ how did you work on it/ what was the recording chain for his vocals... any info you could dig up would be great!

Hi, I thought I heard that you worked on Corneille's 1st record in english and then I checked the discography and saw that it was in fact you. We just started hearing the first single and a few other snippets in the media here in Quebec (Canada). I am not suprised he chose you to work with him, he s a big fan of Dangelo and the live sound of the roots etc.
Could you talk a little bit about the working process and your involvement- producing and or engineering?/ what was your goal as far as "soundwise" and to present him as an artist to a new audience/ how did you work on it/ what was the recording chain for his vocals... any info you could dig up would be great! Sonny

hello sonny,

yes, i just finished mixing and mastering his upcoming album last month. another allbum i tracked and mixed entirely off tape. from the start he said he wanted a big, warm sound and he give me full autonomy in the sonic department and was adament that i don't compromise anything related to how i would normally do a project, namely the use of analog tape and gear. but this was a slightly different genre for me. besides alicia keys, it's probably the most "pop" album i've done.

when we did the first round of tracking, it wasn't clear to me how the songs were going to turn out. i didn't have any vocals for me to hear the melody as he wanted to do the vocals himself in montreal. the music was very simplistic and the band seemed to just keep the performances very straight with not too much improvising or straying too far from the chords. but when we went back in to track more songs and finish the overdubs, it became clear that this simple approach was a definite tactic for corneille. my instincts kept telling me that they could stretch out a bit more but i kept my suggestions to a minimum. and his influences became evident after spending more time with him and once i started to mix his songs. it was also clear that he chooses the notes in his melodies and chords very carefully.

i asked him how far to take this album in the mix. it was tracked really well and i had a nice pallette to work from and i could have gone in any direction. he told me to go for what i felt (in fact he left me alone for the majority of the mixes). but in general he wanted an edgy and raw sound similar to what i did with erykah, D and keziah. he wanted the contrast of his songs with big drums and bottom. so i did my usual treatments and vibes, but just tamed it down just a little. it would have been a little strange to go completely psychedelic with lots of effects. but i feel the songs were given a nice lift with a more aggresive approach versus someone else giving it a slick, pop sound. i'm very happy with the way it turned out and it sounds really big and phat, i must say . and there's enough of my subtle and not so subtle treatments to keep things interesting sonically.

corneille's project was a real pleasure to work on. there's some really nice songwriting and lyrics on his album. his band is really tight and a bunch of really cool people. and corneille is one of the nicest and truest people i've ever met. i know that this is just the beginning of our relationship together and i'm pleased that he reached out to me to help him attain his vision.